Coin-testing mechanism for vending-machines.



C. S. WEEKS-'64 H..R. EVANS.

Patented Oct. 3, 1916.

SHEETS-SHEET 1 Y C. S. WEEKS & H. R. EVANS.

COIN TESTING MECHANISM FOR VENDING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-6.1913.

1 ,200,059 Patented Oct. 3,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mop

.C. 8. WEEKS & H. R. EVANS.

COIN TESTING MECHANISM FOR VENDING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED Nov. 6.1913.

1 200,059. Patented 001;. 3,191

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

c s. wnnxs, or nnooxmm, AND' HENRY n. EVANS, on NEW ionx, N. 2.,

' reun on or NEW 1031:.

com-'rns'rmc 'mncnnmsm ron 'vnn'nmc-mncnmns.

To all whom it may concern: V

Be it known that we, CHARLES S. WEEKS, a citizen of the United States,residing in the borough of Brooklyn,county of Kings, and

State of New York, and HENRY R. Evans,

such machines. v

Primarily, it should be noted that the mechanism of our presentinvention has been testing the material of which said check is designedwith reference to coin-controlled apparatus for vending tickets or otherflat articles in web form wound in reels or stacked in flat form, thelength of the stack being preferably the length of five or more articlesor tickets of the web. I

' Among the objects of our invention may be noted thefollowing: toprovide, in a check-controlled apparatus, a means for made in order tothrow out a spurious coin;

. 7 an apparatus for coin-controlled'machines to provide a material.testing device which will prevent the mechanism, through which thedevice operates, from performing a functional operation except when acoin of the. proper denomination is inserted 1n the machine; to providetesting apparatus which makes it impossible for the machine, with whichit is incorporated, to perform its operation with anything other than agood coin of the proper denomination; to provide which will rejectslugs, disks, rings, washers and other things in form similar to a coin;to. provide means under control,'so that but one coin at a time caneffect the delivery of a ticket or article to be vended from themachine; to provide means which will insure the retention of a good coinplaced in the machine and prevent it from being recovered by the vendee;to provide a materialtesting apparatus in a normally open electricalcircuit, operated by the insertion of a coin in the apparatus which willclose the circuit and start the apparatus mto operation 5 Y to provide atesting apparatus, irrespective of how driven, with a unit mechanism ca,

. Specification of Letters Patent. I Q

Patented Oct. 3,1916.

Application filed November 6, 1913. Serial Ho. 799,459.

' discriminating between a good coin of the proper denomination, and.any other formof check, so as to start the machine, with which thetesting mechanism is combined,

into operation for the good coin, and prevent the operation of saidmachine in the presence of the other form of check; and

asjs'mnons mo KELLEY 'ncxnr mcnmn comm, or mw ydnx, n. 1., Acon toprovide novel elements and mechanisms, I

and combinations of mechanisms and-elements operating automatically toproduce functions according to a given rule of action imposed thereon bythe coins or checks insorted in the machine, and constituting theinitial control and impulse.

With the above objects in view and others which will be detailed duringthe course of this description, our invention consists of the elements,mechanisms, and features, and combinations of elements and mechanisms ashereinafter described and claimed.

In order that our invention may be clearly understood we have providedwherein:

"Figure 1 is a front elevation taken at an angle of 30 to thehorizontal, of so.

much of a vending machine as is deemed necessary to illustratetheapplication of our invention, a part of the casing being broken away toshow the coin testing mechanism; Fig. 2 1s a 'side elevation of themechanism shown in Fig. 1, the view being toward the left of saidfigure; Fig. 3

is' a top planview of Fig. 2, taken at 30 from the perpendicular; Fig. iis a front elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1, and at thesameangle-to the horizontal, the-parts being illustrated in a differentposition; Fig. 5 is asectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5,Fig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 6 is a sectionaldetail on the line 6-6, Fig. 7,

looking in the direction of the arrow; and

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of Fig. 6, taken on the line 7-7, Fig. 6,looking in the direction of the arrows and showing the coin caliperingdevice.

In the drawings, the back and front plates of the casing of the machine,to which this drawings, 5

testing mechanism is attached and forms a part, are fragmentarily shownat 1, and a fragment of the front plate of the machine 4 is illustratedat 2. Coin slots 3, 4 and 5 are provided and, for'convenienceofmanufacture, are constructed in two halves of metal insulated from thefront plate 2 in any suitable manner, one method of insulating the samebeing shown at 6.

Each testingdevice-consists primarily of a frame 7, secured to a ledgeor plate 8,

forming a part of the machine to which said testing device is attached..Said frame 7 can be secured to the ledge 8 in any suitable manner, andas shown in the drawing, is secured thereto by screws 9. The halves 10and 11, forming the coin-slot plate, are se- .cured to brackets 12 and13 of the frame 7 in any suitable manner, as by rivets 14, said plates10 and 11 being insulated from said arms by fiber bushings 15. I

en a coin is introduced into one of the coin-slots, reference being hadto Fig. 2 of the drawingswherein the coin is illustrated at 16, saidcoin contacts on two 'metallic members or rolls 17 and 18. The plug 17is mounted on an' insulating arm 19, mounted in a-1ever 20, said leverand 'arm being pivotally mounted at 21, Fig. 5, to a boss or hub 22-,forming a part of the frame 7. The plug 18 is secured on an insulatingarm 23 carried in a lever 24, said arm and lever being pivotally mountedat 25 on a boss 26 forming a portion of the frame 7, and said insulatingblock 23 and lever 24 forminga bell-crank, the lever 24 being bifurcatedat 'its' end 27, and having a pin 28 secured therein transverse of saidbifurcation to cooperate with a slot 29 formed in a projection 30 of thelever 20. Reference being had to the drawings, and more particularly toFig. 5 thereof, it can be clearly seen that any rotation of the plug 17about the pivot 21 will cause a similar rotation of the, plug 18 aboutthe pivot 25 in an opposite direction, and vice versa. The object of theplugs 17 and 18 is to form an electrical switch cooperating with a coinand, carrying out this idea, terminals 31 and 32 are secured to theblocks 19 and 23, respectively, and are held thereto by a turned downportion of the plugs 17 and 18 passing through the fiber blocks 19 and23 and being riveted over toepieces formed on said terminals 31 and 32.

income stop 38 secured to the frame 7, and will give v to thecoin animpulse in the direction of introduction.

.Secured to a portion-of the frame 7 is a Z-shaped bracket 39 ofnon-magnetic material, held to said frame 7 by screws 40, or

in any other suitable manner. An electro-- .magnet 41 is mounted on theup-standmg member 42 of said bracket 39, by having-a portion of thecore'43 pass through said bracket 39, and afiber block 44, and having anut 45 at its free end. Said fiber, or other insulating block 44, isprovided with three terminals 46, 47 and 48, said terminals beingdouble; that is, having portions above and below the insulating block44. From the terminal 31 a flexible lead 31 is carried to the lower endof the terminal 46, and from the terminal 32 a flexible lead 32 iscarried to the lower end of the terminal 47 one end of the winding ofthe electromagnet 41 being attached to the upper end of the terminal 47,a lead 46 being taken from the upper end of the terminal 46 to a sourceof electromotive force, the other end of the winding on theelectromagnet 41 being secured to the-lower end of the terminal 48, anda lead 48 being taken from theupper end of the terminal 48 to theopposite pole of the source of electromotive force. Upon theintroduction of a coin between the plugs 17 and 18, the circuit isclosed and the core 43 of the electromagnet 41 is energized. Thefunction of this electromagnet will be fully described later. To theframe 7 are secured by means 0 screws 49, or any other suitable manner,U-shaped brackets 50 and 51, having unequal legs, said brackets carryingon their free end a plate 52 secured thereto by screws 53. Secured tosaid plate 52 is a horse-shoe magnet 54 of some high magnetic material,preferably tungsten steel, the securing means for said magnet beingshown as ears 55 punched up out of the plate 52 and bent over themagnet. The Norway iron poles 56 and 57 of said magnet are shown asbeing I riveted into the ends of said magnet at right angles to theplane. thereof. It is essential, to prevent leakage of magnetic linesfrom the magnet 54, that the plate 52 be of some nonmagnetic material,such as brass or the like.

Secured to the brackets .50 and 51, in any suitable manner, and asillustrated by screws 58, are bearing blocks 59 and 60, of insulat lises a .wh ich c oses the circult between the elec :tromagnet41 and asource of electromotive ing material, in which are mounted a rod orshaft 61. Mounted on said rod 61 is a U-shaped hanger 62 having eyes 63formed on theends thereof, and adapted to coiiperate with the rod 61 andswing therewith. Mounted on the rod 61 is a plate 64 bent into aninverted U-format 65 to partly encircle the rod 61 and to straddlethehanger 62 and which is rigidly secured thereto by the Swedish ironbolt 67 having the disk-shaped head 66 and nut 68. Any movement of thesaid bolt 67 about the axis 61 is directly imparted to the U-shapedhanger 62 and the plate 64 with which, through the U-sha ed mounting 65,it forms an integral part. e

plate 64 has two ears 89 and 90 encircling the bar of hanger 62 andrigidly secured thereby by soldering, or in some other suitable manner.Rigidly secured to the 'plate 64 in a predetermined relation thereto isa hook-shaped arm 70, the function of which will later be described. Aportion of the downwardly extending plate 64 is bent into a toe-shapedledge 71 which forms with a ledge 72 on a plate 73, a continuousrun-way, under certain conditions, for a coin. Said plate 73 ispivotallymounted at 74 to the bar of the hanger 62, and is free to swingthereon under control of alink 75 pivoted to a lug or ear 76 punched upout of saidplate-73, and to a pin 77, carried in an 1nsulated bearingblock 78, secured to the bottomof plate 52 by rivets 79, or in any othersuitable manner. Encircling the rod or shaft 61 is a spring '80, one endof which bears against a projection of the bearing block 59,'and theother end bearing against the bar of the 'U-shaped hanger 62, and holding the same normally in the position shown in Fig. 4 of the. drawings.1

The functions and operation of the above described mechanism are asfollows: Upon the introduction of a 'coin in the slot- 5, forexample,.said coin engages the plugs 17 and 18 and by being forcedtherethrough estabod electrical connection therewith,

."r'orce, and thereby energizes the'core' 43 of said magnet, whereuponthe disk 66 is attraeted iand thepplate 64 and its appurtenances-taredrawn over into the position shown Fig.1 of the drawings. The coin then,passes along the ledge, 71 and by the side :of said; plate 64 adjacentto the hook secured thereon, and after the greater diameter' of the coinhas .passed between the bite or nip of the lugs 17 and 18, it is forcedinwardly,,ow1ng to the tendency of said plugs to approach closer to eachother under the impulse of the spring 37 and the connecting joints andlevers. Just as the coin passes out of contact with the plugs 17 and 18,its motion is arrested by an abutment 81 bent up from aplate 82, in Fig.,5,

adjustably secured in a slide-way 83 on the frame 7 of the device, by ascrew 84, the plate 82 having an elongated slot 85 for that purpose. .Asthe circuit between the source of elect-romotive force and the magnet 41is now broken, the core 43 of said magnet loses its magnetic energy andthe U-shaped hanger 62 and the plate 64 and its appurtenances are throwninto the position illus trated in Fig. 4-of the drawings, under theimpulseof the spring 80. The coin then clears the abutment 81 and, if itbe a good J one and of the proper denomination, rolls by gravity alongthe ledge 71 of the plate 64- and the ledge 72 of the plate 73, andintothe operating mechanism of, the machine to which latter this device isattached.

If the object introduced into the slot 5' .were a washer ofelectro-conductive material, the magnet 41 would be energized, and

upon the breakingof the circuit, the U- other cycle, when it would fallinto a recep-' .tacle provided for that purpose, or into the body of thecasing of the machine.

' If the object introduced into the slot 5 of the 'niachine is anon-metallic substance, such as a fiber, or rubber, or card-board disk,it will pass between the plugs 17 and 18, and

as no closing of the circuit can take place,

due to the non-conductivity of such disk, it

will fall directly into said receptacle, or into the body of the casingof the machine.

- If the check or object entered through the slot 5 meets therequirements of conductivity and passes the test for washers or thelike,

and starts on its path toward the operating mechanism of. which thisdevice forms a part, yet is thinner than a coin of the properdenomination, it will slip through the slot 86, formed in the ledge 72,ofthe plate 73, and drop into a receptacle provided for th'at purpose.See a,Fi 7.

If-a check or ob ect, introduced into the slot 5, meets the requirementsof conductivity and passes the test for a washer or the like, but issmaller in diameter than a coin of the proper denomination, said checkor object will fall through the "opening 87' in the plate 64 and dropinto a receptacle provided for that purpose, or into a chute which wouldreturn it to the outside of the machine. See I), Fig. 7.

If a check or object, introduced into theslot 5, passes the test ofconductivity and the test for a washer or the like, and is of somematerial readily attracted by a magnet, such as iron, steel or the like,it will c me in contact ith the terminals 56 and 57 of the horseshoemagnet 54, a slot 88 being provided in the plate 73 for that purpose,

whereupon its course will be arrested and it will beheld in thatposition with its edge resting upon the ledge 71 of the plate 64,

cept when in actual contact,- -and will drop into the body of themachine.

It is evident from the above of the mechanism and description of thefunctional operation and arrangement of parts that this device will testand eliminate .washers, -rings and the like; also disks of electricallynon-conductive or of'magnetic material; that it will test for thethickness of a coin or check; and that it will test, for the diameter ofa coin or check any disk or coin of greater thickness or diameter thanthe coins for which the device is designed being unable to enter theslot 5, this being the Initial test. It should also be noted, at thispoint, that the extension of the lever 20,

as shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, is for the purpose of cooperatingwith connections and establishing a connection between the cointestingmechanlsm and a locking-device in the vending machine for the purpose ofac tuatingsaid locking-device for each movement of the said lever20;-that is to say, in the vending machine, a device is Provided bymeans of which the other coin-receiving devices are locked fromoperation when one of said devices is set in operation by a checkpassingbetween the lugs 17 and 18, and the lever 20 is the element ofthe testing mechanism which helps to establish connection between thelatter and the locking means in the vending machine. The said lockingmeans has not been illustrated- -nor particularly described herein, asthe same forms no part of our present invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is: D

1. A coin-testing mechanism for vending machines comprising a pair ofmovable electrically conducting members between which the coin isentered; and electrically controlled mechanism for receiving the coinafter passing said members, comprising a plurality of means forsubjecting the coin to a plurality of different tests.

2. A coin-testing mechanism for vending machines comprising a pluralityof movable electrically conducting members between which the coin isentered; devices constituting an open electric circuit inwhic a thereceiving means.

description members are included and mechanism for receiving the coinafter passing said members, comprising a plurality of means forsubjecting the coin to various difierent tests.

3. A coin-testing mechanism for vending machines comprising movableelectrically conducting means to be actuated by a coin; receiving meansfor taking the coin after passing the movable means; and a devicecooperating with the receiving means forming a connection' to a lockingmechanism in 'the' vending machine, whereby said device and the lockingconnection may be set in action upon the acceptance of the coin by 4. Acoin-testing mechanism for vending machines comprising asupporting-frame structure provided with a face-plate having a slotthrough which the coin may be passed; movable electrically conductingmembers arranged adjacent the face-plate between which the coin passesafter passing through the face-plate; and a receiving mechanism for thecoin for taking the latter after passing the movable members, includinga plurality of. devices for subjecting the coin to several difierenttests.

5.A coin-testing mechanism for vending machines comprising a pluralityof movable electrically conducting members between which the coin passesupo entering the ma- 7 chine; a 'pivotally-suppo d coin-receiving devicenormally held'out of cooperative relation with the said members;'meansfor moving, the coin-receiving device into cooperative relation with thesaid members when the latter are moved by the entry of a coin; and meanscarried by said coin-receiving device for subjecting the coin to apredetermined test.

6. A coin-testing mechanism for vending machines comprising a pluralityof spring. pressed movable electrically conducting members between whichthe coin passes; a coin-receiving device movably mounted so as to becapable of moving into and out of coiipe'rative relation with saidmovable members; means for normally holding said device out of suchcooperative relation; and magnetic means for moving said device intosuch cooperative relation.

7. A coin-testing mechanism for vending machines embracing movableelectrically conducting means operably connected with electro-magneticmeans for controlling the direction of movement of the, coin; andmechanically connected with means for determining its disposition withinthe mechanism, together with 'magnetically-controlled means fordetermining its further disposition dependent upon whether the coin'i'nserted is the proper coin the machine should receive or not.

' 8. A coin-testing mechanism for vending machines embracing a pluralityof movable conducting members, electrically connected withelectro-magnetic controlling 'mechan ism and mechanically connected witheach other in such manner as to impel the coin after it passes betweenthe movable members, in combination with mechanism for mechanicallydetermining the ultimate disposition of the coin as it advances, andadditional means for further determining this condition when the coininserted is non-magnetic.

9. A coin-testing mechanism for vending machines embracingelectro-magnetically controlled means operably connected withmechanically controlled mechanism which determines whether the coin isof proper weight, and additional means which determines whether it is ofproper thickness, together with magnetic means which acts to reject thecoin if the same is of magnetic material.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto signed our names in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES s. WEEKS. HENRY R. EVANS.

Witnesses:

ANNA M. WALL, CHAS. M00. CHAPMAN.

